Saints Trade Hand for Sixth-Round Pick

Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, April 26, 2003

The New Orleans Saints traded nose tackle Norman Hand to Seattle for a sixth-round pick Sunday, one day after selecting Georgia tackle Johnathan Sullivan with the sixth overall choice in the draft.

Hand struggled last year as he was unable to keep his weight down and stay in shape. He and defensive tackle Grady Jackson, who also struggled to stay in shape, were blamed in part for the Saints' inability to stop the run up the middle and contain the mobile quarterbacks they faced.

"After we got Johnathan on the first pick, it made one of those guys odd man out," Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. "Ultimately, we decided with the salary and with the situation that we had that it would be good for Norman and our team that we would move him."

The Saints added Kansas State defensive end Melvin Williams in the fifth. With the pick they got from the Seahawks, they chose Southern California receiver Kareem Kelly.

Their final pick was receiver Talman Gardner from Florida State in the seventh. Gardner, originally projected as second- or third-round pick, fell to the last round after he was charged with marijuana possession and having a concealed and loaded handgun in April.